Snow and Mud

Snow comes, melts, and becomes mud. Not just any mud, but this deep, slick, gawd-awful stuff that simply doesn't seem to dry out. My friends tell me that it actually bubbles up to the top...making it that much worse.

Part of my drive, and the path to my coop and run.

Slight incline I slide down each time I try to walk this area...see the slide mid picture.

Gracie doesn't care if it's mud or snow when it's time to play with Wilson.

 When I have to go anywhere, which isn't too often, I leave on the freeze. Driving through the mud is much easier when it's frozen. Sadly, I can't see well enough to drive after dark, so I can't come home on a freeze. I can drive in snow and ice, but this mud? It's terrifying! No control at all when the slide starts. I can actually be moving forward, and sliding sideways off the road at the same time. How the hell is that possible? lol

Gracie loves running in the snow, and will throw it at me with her snout!

I believe we got about 8" of snow this storm.

Behind my cabin.

Icicles on the shed.

Icicles on the cabin porch. These are pointing in towards the porch because snow is melting on the roof.

Beside my cabin.

I enjoy the snow. Gracie plays in it with great abandon! Me? I wander a bit, but have to be really careful...can't see the terrain under the snow, and falling becomes a very real possibility.

I brought the three baby chicks home. Two Buff Orpingtons, and a Black Australorp.

The babies inside the coop.

Eggs I found behind the big girls' temporary shelter.

The broody hen that sits on these eggs.

The chickens are doing well in the snow, and bitter cold. I brought home the younger hens, and have them separated from the big girls. I purposely chose breeds that would weather cold well...and they are. I give them a bit of cracked corn and millet at night to help keep them warm through the night. The two oldest are still laying eggs ...daily...through the cold weather, but have become quite possessive of them. They moved their nest to an area I can't access without climbing under the coop in the mud. One is quite broody, and sits on them throughout the day and night. I'm not pulling the eggs out at the moment, but will in the next day or so...on a freeze.

Snow, mud, and more snow...the cycle just continues as we wait for the next storm to hit.

Thanks for reading...